Learning Journal-Culture – Term Paper

Workplace culturesThe relationship between the leisure and non-leisure workLeisure and non-leisure work form an integral component of human life (Bloom, 2002). From one perspective, the leisure work or activities refer to activities carried out free from the compulsory activities such as the employment, running a business, and the household’s chores among others. Working as cultural officers’ intern at the leading private organization within the city substantially instilled a better knowledge and understanding about the linkages that exist between leisure and non-leisure activities. As an intern, I realized that the non-leisure time activities were not easily achievable without integrating several leisure activities in between certain durations in the process of performing specific tasks. I must admit that the management greatly took into consideration the welfare of the workers.Ideally, the organization allowed two breaks between morning and noon hours, with a significant incorporation of the entertainment and various sports into the schedule. Through this, I was able to carry out several leisure works such as listening to music, playing football and even eating. In this sense, it was evident that the compulsory work relies on the amount of leisure time one is given. I realized that whenever I had a greater amount of the leisure time; then my productivity also increased; based on the fact that a brain subjected to a relaxed environment performed significantly better.Today, I have considerably made the leisure time an important part of me. During the weekends, I often read generals books that contain articles based on various topics, stories and poems by different authors. A fascinating fact is that I have become fully acquainted with the philosophies of Allama Iqbal, Aristotle, and Plato, in addition to the Darwinian Theory.

Identify and critically examine the workplace as a site of cultureAccording to Bode (2008), culture refers to a set of values, beliefs, and norms of a specific group of people or society. These norms play important roles in providing a sense of direction to the member of that particular group, about what and who should be done at a given particular time. The experience that I had as an intern within the leading multinational organization developed my understanding regarding the cultural nature of the workplace sites or environment. This company set a specific set of values and conditions through, which all the employees are required to follow through and abide with. In his way, all the employees, irrespective of their ethnic and religious backgrounds, we were able to develop a common sense of direction and work towards the achievement of the mission and vision of the organization. In this sense, I regard workplace as a site for culture.How differences of gender, ethnicity, class, age, and sexual orientation relate to changes in workplace cultureThe Workplace diversity refers to the variety of differences between various individuals within an organization (Inceoglu, 2002). However, it integrates things such as the gender, ethnic group, age, sexual orientation and education among many others. As a person who had interacted with a considerably large number of people, I developed an understanding that diversity not only involves the manner in which people view themselves but how they perceive others. This perception greatly influenced the thoughts and the interaction of people, in addition to their overall objectives of achieving the missions of the organizations. The experience regarding the importance of diversity forms a major part of me. During my internship, I realized that the differences in the sex orientation, gender, race, ethnic affiliation and personality greatly influenced an organizational culture in a positive manner. For example, it has the capability of increasing the adaptability. This enabled the organization to supply greater solutions to problems in service, sourcing, and the resource allocation.Recreational culturesRecognizing the cultural significance of a range of leisure activities,The more significant relationship exists between culture and a variety of the recreational activities. An opportunity to attend a Thai recreational activities made me develop an understanding of their cultural significance. Commonly known as the Thai sport, this form of activity refers to a form of entertainment which takes place during the religious and royal ceremonies and festivals. During this events, I witnessed young and old people come together to participate in the existing games, which are occasionally humorous. Through the Thai Sport, everyone could see that the Thai’s ways of life, their cultures, and intellectual subtlety. Further, the Thai Boxing (Muay Thai) also demonstrated a substantial cultural significance to members of the Thai society. The Muay Thai has been, for a long time, used as a bonding factor of the Thai people. In this sense, I was able to identify, recognize and appreciate these factors.Differences in gender, ethnicity, class, age, and sexual orientation and recreational cultureRecreational culture forms an important component of major groups across the world. Ideally, the differences in gender, ethnicity, class, age and sexual orientation substantially relates to the recreational cultures in the sense that people from different cultures may be brought together through certain common recreational cultures in the form of sports. An opportunity to attend the Thai cultural festival was a great enlightenment to me, based on the fact that I also participated in the sports and other programs as initiated by the cultural management. It was an opportunity open to every individual and were meant to help the attendees appreciate, recognize and embrace the Thai culture, despite having different ethnic or cultural affiliation. I think my cultural affiliation was never a stumbling black to embrace the Thai culture brought in the form of recreational activities.Significance of context as a defining aspect of recreationalWhile it is evident that the recreation programs with quality activities are desirable, the social context is tremendously the crux of experience, thereby depicting a considerable significance. As an experience, I realized that an effective program remains suitable when there is a productive relationship established with the adults. This is based on the fact that the adults act as teachers and the role models who not only know how to teach activities, but how to foster engagement and interest, guide good decision making, and serve as concrete examples of success. The individuals develop a keen observation and carry out comparison of their performance with those of adults they deem as their role models. Through this, it enables them develop an opportunity for feedback and adoption of new behaviours. Personally, I encountered this argument significantly and ultimately became able to understand the significant of contexts as an important recreational aspect.Reference ListsBloom, J. (2002). Sports matters: race, recreation, and culture. New York [u.a.], New York Univ. Press.Bode, S. (2008). The importance of culture. München, GRIN Verlag.Inceoglu, I. (2002). Organizational culture, team climate, workplace bullying and team effectiveness: an empirical study on their relationship. München, Herbert Utz Verlag Wissenschaft.